What Would Your Draft Have Been?

[Housh]

I would’ve tripped over my own erect penis running to draft Mike Green in the second round.

Derrick Harmon

Mike Green

Tate Rutledge

Dylan Fairchild

Wouldn’t have cared what came after cause those 4 picks would’ve netted me 4 future starters and possibly even 4 future pro bowlers



Addition


Tate went in the 2nd. Disregard

Still would’ve taken Mike Green in the second and Fairchild would’ve still been my pick in the 3rd

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(05-17-2025, 04:53 PM)rfaulk34 Wrote: I wonder if that would have been the case if the Bengals had drafted him? 

Lol, making fun of my homerism I get it Rfaulk.

But seriously it might of been one of my concerns similarly to Billy Price back in the day.

Short arms might not matter as much in college but in the NFL it can be a detrimental if your technique isn't spot on. Ratledge's athleticism was
off the charts and he played next to Mims at Georgia, I think the Bengals would of taken him over Fairchild in the 3rd even. But we don't know 
who will be the better pro.

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(05-18-2025, 02:52 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Lol, making fun of my homerism I get it Rfaulk.

But seriously it might of been one of my concerns similarly to Billy Price back in the day.

Short arms might not matter as much in college but in the NFL it can be a detrimental if your technique isn't spot on. Ratledge's athleticism was
off the charts and he played next to Mims at Georgia, I think the Bengals would of taken him over Fairchild in the 3rd even. But we don't know 
who will be the better pro.

I was not a huge fan of Ratlege or Fairchild (watch that ND game), which is why I would have went hard for Zabel/Jackson early and a better FA than Patrick. Or in addition to. 

But it is moot now. Hope Fairchild blossoms.

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

NFL.com ranked us 31st for our draft haul. C- grade.

https://www.nfl.com/news/2025-nfl-draft-ranking-all-32-rookie-classes-plus-overall-grades-favorite-picks-and-day-3-sleepers

[Nepa]

(05-18-2025, 06:48 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: NFL.com ranked us 31st for our draft haul. C- grade.

https://www.nfl.com/news/2025-nfl-draft-ranking-all-32-rookie-classes-plus-overall-grades-favorite-picks-and-day-3-sleepers

Which is one spot better than this summary of 24 different evaluations, where the Bengals were ranked dead last and had two D- rankings:

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2025/4/30/24419888/bengals-worst-gpa-2025-nfl-draft-grades#:~:text=Sorted%20by%20GPA%20for%20all,to%20right%20(hard%20graders).&text=The%20Bengals'%20GPA%20is%202.06%2C%20the%20next%20lowest%20being%202.33.

For once I would like to see the Bengals going against the grain work out. Beyond the no-brainer picks (Burrow, Chase, and Higgins as the first second-day pick), so far their draft prowess has not been much to write home about.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(05-18-2025, 03:42 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: I was not a huge fan of Ratlege or Fairchild (watch that ND game), which is why I would have went hard for Zabel/Jackson early and a better FA than Patrick. Or in addition to. 

But it is moot now. Hope Fairchild blossoms.

Wasn't a fan of Zabel, small school (same as Volson) and was another combine warrior. I think it would of been a major reach to take him at 17 IMO.

I did like Donovan Jackson for us a lot though and I am no OSU fan. But I think between, Fairchild, Patrick and Rivers we are much better on the OL 
than last season. We will see, I like that Fairchild is already playing with the 1's instead of sticking with Volson or Cody Ford as starters which would of
really concerned me. Still, I would add Risner or Scherff as insurance, but I doubt they do it.

[*ochocincos*]

(05-16-2025, 02:49 PM)TJHoushmandzadeh Wrote: I wanted Walter Nolen or Jihaad Campbell. Nolen was gone so Campbell would have been my pick.

I don’t love the Stewart pick but I don’t hate the player and think he’ll contribute. There’s value in a DE who can set the edge and be more disruptive against the pass than Hubbard. Even if he can’t finish - and there are alarm bells with both college (lack of) production and lack of  agility lateral testing - if he can divert QBs into Trey’s lap that would work. Ideally at 17 though we’d be getting more of an impact player who’d give this D an identity so it’s more a question of not liking the value.

The questions we have to ask of Stewart at 17 are:
1) What will his production end up being at his ceiling?
2) How long will he take to get there?

Murphy, a guy very similar to Stewart, has only 658 defensive snaps in 30 games played.
Only 40 tackles, 35 total pressures, 3.0 sacks in those snaps.

Murphy was taken 28th overall, so even less expectations than should be on Stewart, given he was taken 17th.

What production do folks have on a 1st round DE taken 17th overall after two seasons to be considered worthy of the pick?
I lean toward 10+ sacks total across both seasons, 800+ defensive snaps.
That may even be lenient.

I don't frankly care what the dude may be by Year 3 or 4, as if he's too good, Bengals won't extend him anyway.
Get as many snaps and performance out of him on his rookie contract.
A DB or OL could have potentially played near every offensive/defensive snap as a rookie vs being in a rotation, which is likely what Stewart will be in as long as Hendrickson and Ossai are also on the team.